My first day at Loughborough University

Mariela Lopez

Hi guys!

My name is Mariela. I am from Ecuador, South America. I am 21 years old and I’m studying Human Biology. I love walking and exploring places and my favourite food is seafood.

I still remember my first day at university because I know that was the start of my future. As all of you could imagine, leaving home is extremely terrifying and exciting at the same time. It is a mixture of feelings but it is completely normal. The first time I stepped into the university campus was actually my very first day because I was not able to go to the open days.

My older brother travelled with me that day and as soon as we got off the train I remember telling my brother I wanted to go back home because I felt very anxious. We took the bus to the university campus and I had no idea where my hall was. We got off at the accommodation centre and for some reason we decided to walk around campus trying to find my hall until we found one of the security guards who kindly helped us with all the bags and suitcases. I felt stressed back then but I just laugh about it now. Once I finally managed to get to my hall I felt so relieved, I remember seeing my hall mascot and even took a picture with it. I felt so welcomed by everyone! They helped me find all the information I needed, my room keys and they even had so many different stalls explaining the many different activities I could get involved in. I felt even more excited than before because I had no idea you could get involved in so many things at university! I knew that day there would be something for me to enjoy. I went up to my room with my brother, left my bags and went to have lunch with him.

After going back to my hall, I started feeling a bit sad because it was time for my brother to leave and I knew I was going to be completely alone. I cried when he left but I knew it was normal and the helpers were so kind and caring with me I knew I was going to be just fine. So I began to unpack everything and also started wondering where my roommate was. I saw her bags on the other side of the room so I knew she had arrived. I was super nervous about meeting her, was worried she wouldn’t like me. Once she was back we introduced ourselves and started talking. We had more things in common than I thought we would. I didn’t feel sad or alone anymore. We both sat on the floor and went through our fresher’s pack, both very happy for the many vouchers we were given. We then decided to go downstairs to the common room where we met other people. There were various group activities which made it easier to meet other people as we all had to work as a group.

At the end of the day, I felt very tired but happy because I met other people, some just as nervous as I was about university. Some were very happy to finally be away from home. I was lucky because I had my roommate to speak to during my first day. To all new freshers, the first day at university can be nerve wracking. But it will be very exciting and a day to remember because you will realise it is the first day of a new phase in your life and the most exciting thing is that you get to choose how it turns out.